Ivan is Back
A/N: Sorry for the delay in posting, I seem to have come across a writers block on this story for a while so I switched to my other story and unfortunately this one ended up simmering on the back burner. I hope this chapter is up to standards and you enjoy.
Chapter 10
Her screams filled the building as another hot poker was pressed to her skin. She knew nothing of what the rangers were doing but still she was forced to endure this torture. Having heard the stories of how the rangers got their ninjetti powers Katherine knew that this was going to be a long punishment if she even made it out alive it would be a miracle.
"Now, tell me what the pink crane has planned." Ivan hissed at the blond girl held up by chains.
Katherine looked up and let the fury in her voice answer him, "I. Know. Nothing."
On Earth Kimberly and Tanya were waiting for the others to arrive. Some had already showed up and were locating rooms and looking for a good training area. Rocky, Jason, and the wild force rangers were the first to arrive as the island moved in the sky and Jason was outside of town when Tanya called.
"Well, Kim, I can't say for the others but I think you have done a fair job at getting everyone gathered." Taylor spoke to the short brunette.
"Thank you Taylor, I hope you and the other wild force rangers will be comfortable here for the time being. I truly am sorry that this is how things have to be at the moment." Kim spoke with sincerity in her voice.
Being one of the original rangers she had seen more field time than just about everyone there. Tommy, Billy, and maybe Jason were the exception to this due to Billy remaining a ranger up until the zeo crystal, Tommy couldn't seem to avoid the suit, and while Jason had left during high school to join the peace conference he had come back to the rangers during their time of need when King Mondo was alive and wrecking havoc on Angel Grove. Kim was so lost in thought that she almost didn't notice Jason helping the dino thunder rangers and the ninja storm group get settled in.
"Falcon boy is looking for you Kim." Jason told his pseudo sister once she came out of her daze.
"Thanks, Tanya is in the basement helping clear some space for sparring mats from the gym. A couple of the wild force rangers are supposed to be helping but honestly they remind me of a teenage Rocky."
Jason laughed at his sister and went in search of his wife. He saw her shoulders tense and knew that the pressure of Katherine's capture was wearing on her. He wished there was some way he could help but this enemy was one that he was not there for.
As Kim walked the building in search of her boyfriend she felt her shoulders tense with weariness at the thought of what her successor was being put through. She knew that what Kat had done years before was wrong and even though they weren't friends anymore she was a fellow ranger and also a fellow pink therefore Kim was going to make it her personal mission to rescue Katherine no matter the cost. She was determined not to lose anymore rangers if necessary.
"Hey there," a familiar voice whispered in her ear.
"Tommy, did you guys make it okay? Was anyone hurt in the attack on Reefside?" Kim questioned him like no other. She worried about him when he was gone away from her because that seemed to be when evil attacked them the most.
"I'm fine, calm down little crane." He assured her using the name he had given her shortly after their rise to the ninjetti powers.
Others started to file into the room Kim and Tanya had managed to convert into a lounge in just a short length of time using furniture that was stored in the basement. Looking around the room Kim noticed that more and more of the rangers had arrived since she first checked in.
On Phadeos a young woman clad in yellow stood looking out into the ocean. She longed to return to her home on Earth, but that was not to be. At least until the rangers were ready to launch a full attack on Ivan Ooze and his empire. She dreaded the pain that her friends had gone through with her 'death' but she knew it was necessary to the rest of the world that Trinity Kwan had died in a car wreck in 2001.
"You are troubled young one." Dulcea spoke kindly.
Trini sighed, "yes, I just fear that the rangers won't understand why I did what I did. The six of us were a family and now I have lied to my family and foresaken my sacred duty as a ranger by just sitting back while a fellow ranger was taken and many more attacked and killed."
"Are you not of the sacred power now? Have you not spent the last 11 years recovering with the goal of returning to your friends?" Dulcea inquired of Trini.
"Yes but, I should be there. Fighting along side them. Kim looks so lost and alone."
Dulcea gazed into the pool of truth and saw what Trini had meant. Even after reconciling with Tommy she still looked troubled by the war that was being waged on Earth's defenders. Dulcea knew that many of the rangers would question Kimberly's leadership but she also knew that the crane was a force not to be trifled with. The ninjetti would stand by her and help her guide these new rangers into the fight of their life with an enemy unlike any other.
"Trinity, it is time." Zordon told his original yellow warrior.
Trini nodded and gathered what she needed for her to send the power of the saber-tooth tiger to Tanya. She made sure to have a picture of Tanya along with her simple note and the coin and morpher themselves. Zordon placed the belongings in a bright yellow box with the saber-tooth tiger etched into the lid and sealed it shut so only a ninjetti or Tanya herself could open it. Once the box was fused shut the three stood in a circle and began the chant to send the box to earth. A yellow glow covered the box and it disappeared in a flash.
On Earth the rangers were slowly joining in the lounge while the ninjetti, Jason, Zack, Tanya, and Justin were outside the door waiting for Andros and the Lost Galaxy rangers to arrive. Jason pointed out the space ship getting ready to land just a little ways away when the building behind them shook due to a loud pitched scream and Ethan running out the door.
"What the hell was that?!" Zack shouted due to his ears ringing.
Tommy groaned, "sorry."
"Almost sounded like Kim's pteradacyl crying." Jason said.
"Unfortunately, no. That was something much worse. Ethan, go get Kira and the others." Kim told the young triceratops.
Ethan ran back inside and came out a few minutes later with Conner and Trent restraining both the girls at a distance from each other.
"Dr. O, I swear I didn't mean to do it. She made me so angry though."
"Oh please, like you hadn't had that coming. Face it, the only reason Trent was with you was because you took pity on him during your ranger days. You're just second best." Cassidy said.
Kim looked between the two girls and could see so many of the problems that had once been her and Katherine. Tommy's pleading eyes caught her attention in hopes of her being able to do something to stop the feuding girls.
"Cassidy, back off. Okay, this isn't the place nor the time to be bickering about relationship problems. Kira didn't force him to stay with her he chose to meaning there are obviously some insecurity issues he needs to work out." Ethan snapped.
Cassidy just glared at the blue ranger knowing he was right but not willing to admit it to herself. She finally had what she had wanted since high school and she couldn't stop rubbing it in Kira's face. She had always been bitter towards the yellow ranger due to her having the friends, the popularity, and once discovered, the ranger powers.
Kira stood there firmly secured in Conner's embrace glaring at the new pink ranger. She couldn't believe that the guys were just going to let her join the team when they were in the middle of a war. They didn't have time to train her in fighting or find out what her powers are. People were dying.
"Kira, I know you don't like the idea but your team is down a ranger with Tommy using his ninjetti powers therefore you need a fifth ranger." Kim reasoned with her yellow counterpart.
"Why her? She knows next to nothing about being a ranger and doesn't even care that this is a war."
Conner spun her around to look at him, this girl, the one he has had a crush on since high school was talking like they weren't going to make it through this whole war. "Kira, this is where we make the choice; either train her and give us the upper hand with another ranger, or lay down and let them kill us off one by one."
"Personally, I'm for the training." Ethan smiled at his friends.
The rangers agreed to train Cassidy to use the dino powers to her ability just as the lightspeed rangers would have to train Justin. Everyone headed back inside completely aware that Kira and Cassidy would probably never see eye to eye but Conner and Ethan were determined to make sure they came out of this mess alive.
Inside the house there were groups of rangers on either side of the lounge arguing about who should be leading this mission. Jason groaned when he heard the leading argument; Tommy had the most experience.
"Do you realize just how invalid that argument is?" Andros questioned.
"Earth rangers, he is the longest serving." Hunter of the ninja storm team argued.
"Yes longest serving earth ranger, but Kimberly has done an extensive look into the history of Ivan Ooze. I should know." Andros countered.
"Does it really matter who has more field time, the point is that she's a girl!" Nick stated with irritation in his voice.
Tommy and Jason looked between the two groups and decided to step in and say something.
"Hey! Everyone shut up!" Jason yelled.
"Now, Andros, what is going on?" Tommy asked his fellow red ranger.
"These newer rangers seem to think that because Kim is a girl and doesn't have the field time that you do that she can't lead this mission to the extent that you or Jason could."
Tommy laughed, "okay, so every ranger team after wild force seems to be questioning Kim's ability to lead the mission against Ivan Ooze? Am I right?"
Most the red rangers that served after wild force with the exception of Conner who knew better than to question Tommy nodded their approval that Kim should not be leader.
"Well then, let us tell you why she should be the one to lead this mission." Rocky said stepping to the defense of his fellow ninjetti.
"She's brave."
"Loyal to a fault."
"She has the biggest heart of anyone here."
"She's not about to give up."
"She's lost a lot to Ivan Ooze." Jason finished off for the team.
"What could she have lost? Ivan wasn't attacking any of the ninjetti." Nick smart mouthed.
Before another word could be spoken in offense or defense a bright yellow light filled the room and left behind a box with the symbol of the ninjetti on it. As the six ninjetti approached the box Kim called for Tanya, Jason, and Zack to come forward as well. It only felt right that all of them be there when the box opened. Using their powers they opened the box and the remaining five original rangers felt a pang in their hearts. For there in the box laid the saber-tooth tiger coin and morpher along with a photo of Tanya and a small note.
"Kim, is that what I think it is?" Tommy asked his girlfriend.
"Trini's coin." The words fell from her lips in a whisper.
"There is a picture of Tanya in the box as well." Billy said lifting the photo of Tanya in her wedding dress from 2000.
"What does this coin have to do with anything?" Vida the pink sprite ranger of mystic force questioned.
"That coin as you call it Vida Rocca, is a turning point in this war against Ivan Ooze." A voice spoke from nowhere yet everywhere in the building.
As the voice began to take form the original rangers dropped to defense stances. Andros stepped forward and welcomed the new person.
"Easy rangers, I mean you no harm." There in front of them stood the very reason that the power rangers were called to Earth almost 20 years before.
Rita Repulsa.
A/N: Well, I hope you have enjoyed so far. What did Kim lose to make her the best leader for the war against Ivan Ooze? Will Tanya get the saber-tooth tiger coin just like that? What does Rita have to do with any of this? Read on...